What medicine is giving to stop drinking alcohol?

Responses (3)

Depends on how you want to stop drinking and how much you consume regularly. There is a medication called antabuse which is taken with the understanding that if you drink alcohol while on it, you will get really ill. Otherwise, it is a matter of treating the withdrawal effects from stopping alcohol especially if consuming a lot regularly. If you are a heavy daily drinker, you may want to consider a detox center where you'll be monitored and medicated accordingly.

Hi, as Laurie has said, there is Antabuse which can be used to maintain sobriety. You can not drink ANY alcohol whilst taking this, you can become severely unwell, there have actually been deaths attributed to this medication when people have drank on it,so you must be dedicated to your recovery. If you need to detox (to stop drinking) because you are dependent, you should do a controlled program through your doctor or drug and alcohol services - they will use either Librium or Diazepam during the 7-12 day process... Naltrexone can also be used to help maintain sobriety after detox, this will limit the amount of alcohol you can drink and the effects you get from the alcohol, it will cause side effects to make you feel unwell and/or have hangover symptoms the next day if you drink on it. It is also important to get Vitamin B strong complex and Thiamine prescribed to protect your brain and CNS from the drink.

Number one is you have to really want to stop drinking. If you drink in social activities, and all your friends drink, that encourages you to want to take part in the "fun." If members of your family are drinkers, that makes it easy for you to justify your drinking. So you would have to be committed to wanting to stop. If it's affecting your day to day life, if you have to call in sick to work, or you spend days with hangovers so bad that you can barely function, you need to realize that "hair of the dog" is not the answer.

When I was a supervisor at work, we had a girl who lost control of her drinking. Was calling in sick a lot. Refused to go to the doctor. We even helped her enter a detox center. She ran away after the third night. She even drank while on antabuse, because the getting sick from it was not a deterrent for her. Bottom line is she lost a job she had been at for 20 years, lost her retirement, and within two years, lost her life to it. She was only 44 when she died. It was a horrible experience as her supervisor to see her ruin her life for alcohol. If you're looking for a crutch to get you through quitting, that tells me you aren't really sure you want to quit. You still crave the feeling of being intoxicated. In my own family, there is a history of alcohol abuse, that affected my life. I was married to two alcoholics. My mother was an alcoholic, my brother was an alcoholic. My grandfather, whom I never even met was an alcoholic. It does run in families, and it ruins lives in the process. I'm very fortunate that due to all I saw in my life, I've never wanted to drink because I saw what it does to families. With all that being said, you need to see a doctor and quickly. And if you are really committed to being sober, you must follow his/her instructions. No cheating. It would also behoove you to start attending AA meetings. Look in your phone book for a local contact. There are meetings literally every day, and assorted times, and you can remain anonymous at these meetings, so there's no social stigma. How committed to sobriety are you? Are these things you think you can abide by? Do you really, really want to quit? You have to really think about this, because partial participation is not an option for you. You need to find a sponsor from AA who will help you over the rough times. Someone you can call on when the urge to drink gets overwhelming, because it will. Trust me when I tell you these things, because I do have extensive experience when it comes to alcoholism. Feel free to contact me privately if it helps, I'll be happy to help you. Best of luck to you, there are much better things in life than drinking yourself into a stupor everyday.

Hi, i want to thank you on behalf of the members of this site that can learn from your very personal account of living 'with' alcoholism. I think your story will open peoples eyes to this horrible addiction... i myself have experienced alcoholism throughout my life and know how very destructive it is